Into the Abyss
by thejuvenile
Summary: In the midst of their chaos and dysfunction bonds forged between the three as the universe screamed it's protest against Team 7's ill suited existence. Everyone was out for blood, leaving no other option than to overcome the trying times, lest they parish like most who aimed for greatness. The madness that was Team 7 would either become a legend or another forgotten tragedy. [AU]


Hello,

First off, thank you for reading this story, it means a lot to me. Yes, it is another Hinata in team 7 fic but I promise to make things interesting.

Before you start reading you should be aware that yes, Naruto isn't the smartest crayon in the box but that will change in time. Sasuke will be the same old douche…but you will come to love him (I hope).

To make this a more interesting Hinata in team 7 fic I've decided to make Hinata much more complex. She won't be that super shy character she is in the anime and she won't be that cold prodigy a lot of people make her out to be in fanfictions either. I hope you guys have as much fun trying to figure her out as I do with writing her.

Anyway, if you are one of my readers from 'The Way of Shinobi' then I owe you guys a HUGE apology. Here I am starting two new fics and I haven't decided If I will continue that one or not. What I can promise you is that my life is finally starting to get less hectic (if you want a full version to why I've been gone so long check out my explanation in my story Vanquish) so I will be updating monthly for every story.

Anyway, enjoy guys and leave me some love.

…

Naruto's heels dug into the ground as he commanded the tire swing to a sudden stop. A small dust cloud flew up and he felt grimy bits seek refuge in the crevices between his toes. As he took off his sandals to shake off the dirt his gaze wandered to the dark sky.

He couldn't sleep.

Not after the night's events.

His thievery of the hidden scroll.

Mizuki's betrayal.

Iruka's injuries.

At that thought Naruto's eyes swept over his favorite jumpsuit. Orange it was no more as now a dull red covered the majority of the fabric.

It was Iruka's blood, and thinking about that made Naruto want to run over to the bushes and release the contents from his stomach. Experimentally, he took two fingers from his left hand and rubbed them against each other. Under the moon light he watched as dried blood crinkled from his fingers and fell to the ground.

He didn't make it to the bushes.

His nose wrinkled in disgust as he backed away from his shame. He took the collar of his shirt and wiped his mouth. Nothing good came of today. His selfish actions almost cost his instructor his life, jeopardized village security, and in the end he didn't even learn a jutsu.

Naruto dusted off his jumpsuit, bending over to collect his now most precious item. He didn't think about his actions as he tightened the cloth to his forehead. Despite this a small bitter smile found its way to his lips.

Now, he was a Genin.

He didn't deserve it, he knew, but he would bite his tongue just a little while longer. In due time he would prove himself.

"Take the headband now, or never," were the options the Hokage presented him with.

Naruto's stomach filled with disgust as he recalled his hands still dripping of fresh blood greedily reaching for the leaf insignia engraved in metal. It wasn't until he had left the room that the situation hit him. No, that his selfishness hit him.

He had cried, hard. Yet, it wasn't the first nor the last time that night.

He didn't deserve it, but he accepted, because he was selfish.

"You will make a fine shinobi, Naruto." Jiji had declared carefully, before dismissing him from his office. Naruto had left the room numb, his relief and small delight gone.

Despite Jiji's encouraging words Naruto had noticed the flash of displeasure at seeing him reach for the headband with no hesitance at all.

In light of the night, he was a demon, and his self-centered actions had verified that reality.

…

He felt like shit.

His eyelids felt heavy and usually cheerful blue eyes looked dull as they fought the urge to stay open. He was painfully aware of the dark bags under his eyes thanks to the cracked bathroom mirror in his apartment.

So, he also looked like shit.

The only reason he didn't smell as bad as he looked was because he had stood in the shower for hours last night. The blood had been everywhere. Naruto touched his hair and felt the grimy, slightly oily pieces, and grimaced. Yet, he didn't wash his hair as he had just stood under the blazing hot water staring into space.

He remembers looking into the drain, oddly transfixed at the sight of the red liquid pouring down and wondering vaguely if the rest would stain the tiles.

"Team Six…!" Naruto slowly lifted his head and blinked. Seeing a replacement in Iruka-sensei's spot at the center of the room reading off team assignments felt strange.

It wasn't right.

Iruka-sensei had been there from the very beginning as their main instructor back when they all first entered the academy. He was supposed to see them all through to their first career step as shinobi, and now because of him the man had been denied that.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed and he promised that he would make a trip to the hospital. He hated them, but for Iruka-sensei he would make an exception. He'd even buy flowers as expensive as they were, he owed the man that.

When he came into the room today metal glinting on his forehead he had expected quite a few reactions from his classmates. They hadn't disappointed and he left them confused with his standoffish behavior. After ignoring them for a while they had caught the hint and he had finally been left alone.

"Team Seven…Naruto Uzumaki." That woke him up. Naruto lifted his head with a snap and couldn't help but notice that his back stood straighter. He blinked rapidly as he waited for the names of his two teammates.

"Hinata Hyūga," the man continued, making Naruto tilt his head in confusion.

 _Who was Hinata Hyūga?_

He thought he knew all of his classmates. He felt like an ass as he looked around the room trying to locate the mystery girl. Then, he realized everyone else's momentary confusion.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The instructor finished. That was when the female classmates began demanding to know who this Hinata person was. The children shrieked and gossiped, voicing their complaints to Team Seven's existence.

Or more accurately Sasuke's place within the team, and honestly he wanted to join them in vocalizing his own objections. Though he bit his lip to hide his scowl and remained silent. He would have been satisfied with anyone but the royal jack ass himself.

Eventually the instructor quieted the room down and finished the rest of the team assignments. Chatter died down as the room dwindled down in numbers, the Jōnin coming to take their respective teams, leaving just Naruto and Sasuke in the room. A suffocating silence filled the air between the two boys, and Naruto refused to look anywhere that was even remotely in the Uchiha's direction.

That was until the door opened and in waltzed a girl with white eyes and an extravagant battle kimono dress. Extravagant meaning expensive looking, the actual kimono being a simple cream with black lines weaving to make unimpressive patterns.

She had a small heart shaped face with pale skin and soft features. It was her eyes that made her stand out, enhancing her visage and making her look exotic. Overall, she looked gentle and fragile with her small frame.

For a second she paused, her eyes sweeping from Naruto to Sasuke. She blinked a few times, almost like she was silently inquiring on the distance between her two future teammates. They were after all sitting on opposite sides of the classroom.

Naruto made eye contact with the girl, then looked away quickly, slightly embarrassed at the bad impression he must be giving off to her. Then, she moved, mind seemingly made up on where to go.

With grace he never seen in his female classmates she crossed the room to stand somewhere in the middle. Large white eyes took up most of her face. She blinked again before bowing slightly.

"My name is Hinata Hyūga. I look forward to being on a team with you two."

Silence. Naruto was taken aback by the polite behavior. He'd never experienced anyone let alone someone his age treat him with such respect upon meeting him.

Eventually, he caught on to the girl's expecting glance. He turned just in time to catch Sasuke throw a subtle nod of acknowledgment in the girl's direction.

"Uh- likewise, I look forward to working with you too!" Naruto ended his rambling with a cheesy smile.

His new teammate, Hinata, smiled softly before taking a seat a few rows in front of him, clearly expressing her desire to not choose sides by neither sitting next to him or Sasuke.

Naruto bashfully rubbed the back of his head as he concluded the girl was cute. In a strangely polite weirdo kind of way, that was.

Naruto stared at the red and yellow symbol on her back analyzing the mystery that was his teammate. Her hair was extremely long, all the way down her back and he could see calm eyes looking out the window, a delicate hand holding her chin up.

Naruto closed his mouth, his many follow up questions dying in his throat. The girl had been polite in greeting them but the more he studied her the more distant she actually seemed. His desire to converse died as soon as he picked up on her vibe.

Naruto couldn't silence his audible sigh. He eased back into the chair, sulking as he waited for their new sensei to arrive.

"Meet me at training ground seventeen." That was all their instructor had said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto felt a wave of annoyance at the man. He showed up hours late without an excuse or apology and didn't even introduce himself before shoving commands in their faces.

Despite not wanting to listen to the man's instructions Naruto found himself standing up from the bench. He sent a quick glance to his new teammates and his frown couldn't help but deepen.

Hinata Hyūga. He recalled the gossip he managed to overhear his classmates mention when it was announced she would be on Sasuke's team. 'Genius' and 'heiress' were a couple of words his classmates had muttered in reference to her. Naruto felt his hands ball into fists when he couldn't recall anything about the Hyūga clan.

In terms of height he was below average in his class. He was short, but his new teammate was even smaller than he was. He didn't mean to be someone to judge based off appearances but how was someone so delicate looking so strong like everyone made her out to be?

He wasn't completely lost. He knew the Hyūga clan was a famed ninja family in the village, but for why, he could not recall. He figured the girl's abilities had some inkling to do with her clan, but he was frustrated because he didn't know much beyond that. Why had he never paid attention during class?

Then there was Sasuke, the last Uchiha and prodigy. A self-righteous bastard who has proven time and time again to care about nothing but himself.

With those thoughts he manifested an inferiority complex.

As Naruto exited the room behind his two classmates he pouted. He knows that beggars can't be choosers but he had really gotten the short end of the stick here.

The walk to their destination had been very much like their time spent in the classroom. Awkward and long.

Naruto was used to relieving tension and making light of situations but for some reason he couldn't muster the energy to try. After last night he wasn't sure if he'd ever feel like his normal self again.

Upon getting to the training ground Naruto took the time to actually examine the man to be his sensei. He was tall, on the thinner side with peculiar silver hair. What stood out most though was the mask covering half his face.

His fingers itched and he felt his inner prankster wish nothing more than to devise a plan on how to see what lay under that article of clothing.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake and this-" Kakashi threw out a hand in a grand tad-ah gesture, his tone making it very clear there was nothing grand about this at all. "- is where you'll be training. Get used to this space because it's where you'll be spending most of your time for now on."

Naruto took a look around the clearing, immediately noting there was nothing exciting about the area. There were training dummies and target posts, one with a single kunai still embedded into the wood. They were surrounded by an impressive forest full of trees and shrubs but that was the extent to training ground seventeen.

Naruto looked back to his sensei.

The man paused, his visible eye lazily taking the three children in. "It's in your best interest to get used to each other quickly too."

Of the three children Naruto was the only one to spare a glance to his fellow teammates. Sasuke's unwavering eyes stared straight ahead at their sensei, almost like he was waiting for him to say something of actual importance. His posture said it all, he'd rather be anywhere but here.

Hinata stared intensely at their sensei, clearly hanging on every word he had to say, but her mouth pulled into a frown. Like Sasuke, she seemed disappointed so far as well.

Naruto sighed, trying to figure out why they were expecting so much. Sure, their sensei was a Jōnin, but beyond that and the mask that piqued his interest, the man was plain at best to Naruto.

Kakashi dove one hand into his pocket and the tips of his fingers grasped two items that made a sweet jingle. He took in the children again, and with a blink of his eye released the bells.

Instead the man wove his fingers through familiar hand signs. A quick bite of his thumb and a familiar metallic smell filled his nostrils.

One of Sasuke's eyebrows smoothly slid up and Hinata's frown was gone, her head tilted slightly but curious.

Naruto had a careful interested look on his face.

Good, he's intrigued them.

A cloud of smoke filled the air and once it began to dissipate three sets of eyes looked to the large bull dog amidst the smoke. The dog had a droopy face and lazy eyes with a collar filled with spikes. To contradict his unamused face he bared his teeth and spit foamed at his mouth.

Three children took a step back as right before them they saw blood thirst emerge in the dog's eyes.

"This is Buru, one of my ninken," Kakashi introduced casually, moving to stand right beside the dog. He smirked in amusement when wisely none of the children took their eyes off the dog, not even as he spoke.

"Buru will chase you, and for those who are caught there will be a punishment. Five minutes. Stay in the immediate vicinity."

Naruto gulped as one and one became two and the situation made sense.

"Begin."

His immediate mistake was hesitation.

As soon as the words had left Kakashi's mouth his two teammates took off in a blur, dashing towards the trees. Where there was cover, there was hope.

As Naruto lagged behind at an embarrassing distance all he could focus on was the hurried steps behind him. He could hear the dog pant in excitement and his paws tear apart the earth.

It was disturbingly scary how easily he could hear the dog's every move and all he wanted to do in that moment was look back to see just how close he was to being caught. With great difficulty he looked forward, his chest already burning in resistance.

He realized he was at a disadvantage.

Naruto quickly learned a fact about his mysterious teammate. The girl was fast, faster than Sasuke and couple that with being the smallest target she held an advantage over the blond shinobi. Even now Naruto watched jealously as she entered the forest first, disappearing from sight.

About seven seconds later Naruto burst into the foliage and ignored the momentary relief he felt. Hurriedly he looked left, then right trying to figure out which direction he should head in.

The decision was made for him.

Naruto dove into a bush on his left, biting his lip in response to the pain on his cheek. Blood oozed out of the cut and he looked back to the barrage of shuriken forcing their sensei's dog to change course.

Naruto leapt to his feet, taking off just as the beast began to move toward him. Naruto scowled at Sasuke who headed off in the opposite direction, hands full of shuriken.

He was definitely at a disadvantage here.

Thirty seconds later he was pounding his fist into the ground as he felt the weight of a small mountain crush his shoulder blades. Naruto adjusted his head, spitting out dirt and coughing as he waited for the devious animal to let him free.

Blue saucers watched the dog close its eyes and take a generous breath of air. Moments later the ninken vanished and he could breathe again.

"Sixty-three seconds." Kakashi-sensei's voice was contemplating as he grabbed Naruto by his collar and hauled him up. In response the blond wiggled, trying to free himself, still startled at the man's sudden appearance.

"Let's see how your teammates are doing, shall we?" Naruto looked into Kakashi's single amused eye. Upon knowing he had no real choice, he nodded dumbly.

Naruto gripped the tree branch like his life depended on it as he glanced down to see how far up they were. His sensei was too busy checking his watch and monitoring his teammates to notice his discomfort, or perhaps he didn't care.

Naruto looked down, squinting his eyes as he watched his new teammates skillfully swivel and dodge the massive paws of their sensei's summon.

He was really behind.

It was becoming quite clear from this exercise that he was the weak link. Naruto's face hardened as he was forced to watch his teammates show their prodigious skills, his blue eyes filled with jealousy.

"You have twenty seconds Buru." Kakashi-sensei whispered the statement but Naruto watched the bull dog double his speed as he chased the Genin. Naruto's eyebrows arched, impressed with the dog's acute hearing and speed despite its bulky body.

Hinata and Sasuke were coincidentally running in the same direction, the dog right on their heels. Sasuke who noticed that at this rate he would be caught next stopped. He threw several shuriken, forcing the ninken to leap over him and abandon chase momentarily.

Now, he was after Hinata.

Naruto watched in a little bit of awe as she jumped, grabbing a small branch, using the force to propel herself forward right onto a tree. Without skipping a beat she began to scale the tree with familiar ease.

Naruto would compare her movements to that of an acrobat. Only someone so carefree and with complete trust in their abilities could move in such a manner.

He wanted to be able to do that.

What was even more fascinating was the dog casually traveling up the bark, almost catching her- until she back flipped right off, twisted, and flew through the air for a second. As she made her descent to the ground she repositioned her body a bit and came straight in on Sasuke. Her two feet shot out at both his shoulder blades, using the boy as a beam to help her shoot out ahead.

She shot forward like a bullet and Naruto noticed the small smile on her lips, as if this was her element, and she was content.

Sasuke slipped from the force, sandals sliding in an attempt to regain his balance. The Uchiha growled quite audibly reaching into his weapons pouch. There was a sound of metal cutting air and moments later it landed in front of Hinata, halting her run. Naruto leaned forward in anticipation when she fluidly backed up and ran in the opposite direction, faster than he'd seen her run before.

Then the kunai exploded, and Naruto was blinded. When he could see again his eyes raced to find the small form of Hinata, still running. He felt his heart calm and he turned his sky-blue eyes on Kakashi-sensei.

"S-Sensei?!" Naruto's frantic voice fell on deaf ears, but he continued, "He could have killed her, o-or crippled her!" Naruto spoke to his instructor with urgency as the man just looked on impassively.

The man leaned forward a tad and Naruto paused in his ramblings to see the end. At the scene before him his eyebrows furrowed together, it was quite a sight, Buru catching the two at the same time in the final seconds.

On the ground directly beside a tree Sasuke lay with two heavy paws on his chest. The boy struggled to be released as his face turned to avoid the drool seeping out the bull dog's maw.

Hinata appeared to have been caught by Buru's spiky collar as she attempted to climb up the tree. Her face was impassive but her lips twisted in discomfort every few seconds. She remained still as the spikes impaired in her legs stained her leg wrappings red.

Naruto felt a hand grip his collar and by now he knew to stay still as one second he had been watching high in the tree and the next they were falling. Kakashi landed onto the ground quietly, but Naruto was a different case. Even though he was released gently, his body went tumbling as he attempted to calm down.

Kakashi flicked his wrist and the trio watched as the ninken happily demolished a presumed treat. With a poof the bull dog disappeared and there was silence that had been previously filled with panting.

"Buru is the slowest of my ninken," Kakashi-sensei announced, adding on to the embarrassment Naruto already felt at being caught, and the first one at that. Hinata caught the rolled up bandage Kakashi threw at her and their instructor continued, "and he was toying with you."

Hinata paused in inspecting her wound then went back to work. Sasuke, now in a sitting positon glared openly at the one eyed man. Naruto felt a ton of shame filled bricks hit him and bashfully scratched his head.

Kakashi's single eye narrowed and he huffed in what appeared to be disappointment "At your age I was running circles around my fastest ninken."

The children tensed at the insult, waiting for his next words. "Then again at your age I was a Jōnin." His view switched from Hinata, to Sasuke, and then he looked at the two again.

Kakashi shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders lightly. "I guess nowadays they use the word prodigy to describe anyone."

Naruto noticed those words were directed to Sasuke and Hinata. Hinata who was carefully tending to her injuries seemed unbothered by the comments.

Sasuke was the opposite. Despite his cold, detached demeanor you could tell that the boy desired nothing more than to be the best at everything. Even now Sasuke glared hatefully at the man that was now their sensei. For him, pride was everything and he wouldn't forgive someone for their insults.

"Hyūga must be terrified if you're their future, and well the Uchiha…"

Naruto's eyes widened at the words.

Even he caught on to the slick implication behind the unfinished comment. Kakashi's tone was mocking and disgustingly disrespectful to the dead. Sasuke crouched like a wolf getting ready to attack. One hand itched, waiting to snake its way to his weapons pouch. All he was missing at the moment was a battle cry.

Naruto's gaze ran to Hinata who stood up tensely. Her back straightened and the girl stood proud with her hands inside her two sleeves. She closed her eyes a few times, almost like she was debating with herself. When she opened them, her white eyes were narrowed and the girl adjusted her stance.

She too wanted to attack.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in amusement before laughing sarcastically. When Naruto fell within his sights he felt his insides shrink and churn.

"Yea, times are different because you wouldn't even be allowed to be sacrificial bait, let alone a shinobi."

For just a moment the air tensed up so thick Naruto's throat tightened as he futilely tried to breathe.

Then in blind rage the three charged the man.

Kakashi smiled despite himself. Ironically, it was the first moment for potential teamwork he had seen since reading their profiles and meeting them.

Crack.

He broke a rib, and that person slid to the ground coughing and wheezing.

Chop.

He hit a neck and a body slumped to the ground in unconsciousness.

Splat.

In one smack he simultaneously broke a nose and split open a lip.

"I think we'll end here for today." Kakashi plucked out a soon to become familiar orange book. Then as an afterthought mentioned their punishment was to stay here all night.

Through bloody fingers that clutched his face Naruto watched the man leap off into the trees.

…

Naruto gargled, spitting out what he hoped to be the last of the blood in his mouth. He had finally gotten his nose to stop bleeding but his face felt swollen to the touch. His tongue escaped his cavern and tested his cracked lip. With a wince and grimace the pink mass went back into his mouth.

Naruto gripped his stomach and sighed.

He's hungry.

But the hunger was dulled by the pain he felt. His face hurt and he knew nothing about broken noses but when he hesitantly touched his he knew it shouldn't feel like that.

He spared a glance to Sasuke, whose sitting on the ground clutching his stomach. The Uchiha's clearly focusing on his breathing with his eyes closed in discomfort. Then as if he felt Naruto's gaze he opened his eyes and the boys made eye contact.

Knowing it was too late to look away Naruto found his voice to speak.

"What he said about your clan…it wasn't cool."

Sasuke didn't respond. After several seconds of the two boys just staring at each other, Sasuke looked away first. Eventually, a quiet scoff filled the air.

Naruto balled his fist up in anger.

"What's wrong with you? I was just trying to be nice!" Naruto shouted in frustration. He was in pain, sick of the Uchiha's attitude and already feeling like he didn't belong on this team.

It was still only day one.

He didn't even know why he tried. He had larger problems than trying to be on the good side of some jerk.

"I don't need anyone's pity, especially not yours."

It was Naruto's turn to scoff. "Oh I'm sorry Mr. high and mighty Uchiha! I forgot you thought you were better than everyone!"

"Well there's one thing you finally got right. I am better than you!"

Naruto stood and walked over to the boy sitting on the ground. Choking out a bitter laugh with great difficulty he responded, "At least I can walk, bastard!"

"I can kick your ass just fine," Sasuke declared. To prove his point the raven haired boy stood up and took a dangerous step forward, grabbing Naruto's collar.

Naruto tilted his head up mockingly and grabbed Sasuke's collar in return. "Oh, yea? Try me teme!"

"You're on dead last," Sasuke snarled, raising a fist and preparing to punch the day lights out of the blond.

He would of too, if not for the quiet moan that cut through the tension.

Upon hearing the moan and ruffle of leaves the two boys loosened their grips on each other and turned in sync to the presumed unconscious girl. Despite being laid out unconscious on the ground for the past hour her clothing was still clean and now she sat in a very unladylike manner.

If Naruto released Sasuke and angled his head just right he might be able to get a peak up her kimono. He shook away the thought. Instead, he tightened his grip on the boy's collar and waited for the girl to say something.

As if noticing her promiscuous position Hinata snapped her legs shut with a faint blush. She stood up, dusted away invisible dust and eyed the two with a sleepy look in her eye.

"Why are you two fighting? No, on what grounds does your animosity toward each other lay?" She asked with a frown as she began rubbing her neck. Naruto suspected that was where Kakashi-sensei aimed to knock her out. Then the girl stopped her rubbing to begin stretching.

Naruto and Sasuke continued to stare at the girl.

Honesty Naruto didn't even know how to explain the reason he was fighting with Sasuke, let alone his hatred for the last Uchiha. In the academy, everyone just kind of accepted the unnatural hate the two boys held for the other. It never really needed to be explained before.

He spared a glance to Sasuke, suspecting he was silent because he was in the same predicament.

Eventually the girl stopped mid arm stretch to raise a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Sensing their hesitation she released them from the obligation to answer the previous questions by asking a more direct one. "Are you angry we didn't get a hit in on sensei?"

Her voice was smooth.

That was the only word Naruto could think of to explain it. She didn't have a loud screechy voice most of the girls in the academy were known for. Naruto could think of a pinkette and blonde whose whisper could make you deaf.

No, her voice was smooth and on the quieter side, and yet it had some edge to it that forced you to listen. It was kind of nice, pleasing even, unknowingly making him lose some of the aggression he had been feeling.

Despite her tone Naruto stiffened at the accusation phrased as a question. Unknown to him he released Sasuke's collar and vice versa. Was he mad that all three of them had charged sensei and none of them got a hit in?

No, he was mad because Sasuke was an ass. Right? His nose cried out in pain in that very moment and he realized that he might just be angry at everything right now. Instead of answering the girl he asked a question of his own.

"Are mad you didn't get a hit in?"

Hinata blinked, her face still looking drowsy. She finished her stretching, already back to a sitting position. This time she was in a kneel, as if she were preparing to bow down to a superior at any moment. She tilted her head cutely. "No, he's a Jōnin. I was aware my advance would be met with defeat. How about you two?" This time her eyes were curious.

Naruto bristled at that because he did think he could hit the man. Or maybe he hadn't, and just did it in the heat of the moment? It was Sasuke who responded.

"What, so you're saying you attacked just for the hell of it?" Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned his chin up in disgust at the girl.

"I had my reasons." Hinata turned challenging white eyes in Sasuke's direction as she stuck her nose up at the Uchiha. She clearly didn't take well towards Sasuke's attitude. Naruto sensed immediate tension between the two. Tension that clearly went deeper than the current conversation.

He promised when he got a chance he'd investigate more about his two teammates.

"Wait," Naruto interrupted trying to diffuse whatever was happening before it began. "So why did you attack then?"

"It was a good opportunity to see how I would fare against sensei." Hinata responded. Naruto immediately sensed amusement in her voice. Then the girl rolled her neck in a way that told Naruto she didn't regret her actions at all.

Naruto eyed the girl a bit longer. The more she spoke the less sense he could make of her. "I doubt you were thinking about how you matched against sensei in the moment, you had to have been pissed at what he said." Naruto argued, still refusing to accept her explanation. The girl remained silent with her eyes closed and a calming expression as she mediated.

Then she spoke.

"What he said about me was incorrect but I would have let it go. However, the slight to my clan was on unfounded bases. If I had attacked on that premises my actions would have been just."

"But?" Naruto pressed knowing the word was coming.

"But, unlike you two I am capable of controlling my emotions." Naruto winced at the dig at Sasuke and himself, watching the girl stand and dust herself off. She crossed her arms, her hands disappearing into her sleeves.

"You two were going to attack even if I didn't. So I wanted to see how I would fare with three of us attacking even though I wasn't entirely committed."

Committed? It took Naruto just a second to dumb the word play down in his head. She basically had just said she hadn't attacked seriously.

"Bullshit," Sasuke growled before carefully sitting down, still clutching his stomach in pain.

Hinata glanced from his stomach then back to him, her smile gone, as wide eyes looked down on him.

"If I were trying to injure sensei my Byakugan would have been activated," she argued, pointing at her two white eyes.

"Byakugan?" Naruto questioned.

The girl ignored his question but shot him an unimpressed glance. A glance that turned from condescending to curios.

"Your nose is broken, will you straighten it?"

So it was broken. Naruto sighed as he resisted the urge to touch the flesh. He scowled and backed away as suddenly Hinata was in his space, observing the swollen organ that was his useless nose.

"How can you tell?" Naruto asked, feeling a little bashful under her intense gaze. It was unwavering, and he licked his lips, winced at the taste of blood and looked away lest he feel overwhelmed.

"I have a lot of experience with them," she answered.

Naruto resisted asking his follow up question. Was she used to seeing broken noses or experiencing them herself? As much as he wanted to ask she had an expression on her face that made him hesitate so he asked another question bothering him.

"You said you held back when attacking Kakashi-sensei but that doesn't make sense. If you were really trying to see how'd you do against a Jōnin wouldn't you go all out?" Naruto was back to observing his female teammate, who hadn't averted her gaze from his nose yet.

A slight rustle brought his attention to Sasuke who was watching them with black soulless pits. Naruto wanted to smile at the jerk who was just as interested in the question as he was. Instead though, he turned his eyes back to Hinata who began to speak.

"If it can be helped no one would willingly allow their pride to be utterly crushed, and I am no exception. If I had attacked without restraint the result would have been the same, but for now I can fool myself into thinking it would have made a difference."

Her white irises looked like they were looking at something faraway and when she turned the moon like orbs to meet his blue ones he thought he saw a flicker of lavender. It was fascinating and he felt his face heat up when her hand reached toward him slowly.

What was she doing?

"Sometimes it's nice to stay blissfully unaware of things, ne?"

As Hinata said that Naruto howled in pain, his hands rushing to tenderly touch the flesh that was his nose.

He shot her a betrayed look. She didn't warn him or give him any indication that she would fix his broken nose. Then he felt a rush of air enter his nostrils and the anger was replaced by gratitude. The last few hours he had been forced to result to mouth breathing.

Then, he thought on her words, and what he had learned last night about himself.

Apart of him hated himself. He was the jailer of the nine tailed fox and now suddenly everything made sense. So, would he have rather stayed unaware or feel broken and hopeless from the truth?

That was a question he found himself pondering over frequently.

…

Over the new few days the same situation happened.

They were caught by Buru and Kakashi-sensei immediately left after the order that their punishment was to stay there the whole night.

Today hadn't been any different.

"Damnit!" Sasuke growled, kicking the trunk to a poor tree repeatedly.

Naruto watched some leaves fall off the branches. His blue eyes following them till they got to the ground.

"Guys," he muttered.

"I want to shower." Hinata said, letting her body fall to the ground like a graceful sack of potatoes. Naruto found that anything she did, quite literally, transfixed him with how elegant and charming it looked.

"This has become vexing." She pouted, her hands in her dirty sleeves as her legs bounced in irritation.

"He's not going to teach us!" Sasuke was still kicking at the tree.

"Guys," Naruto repeated louder, watching more and more leaves fall.

"I should have made it." Hinata shot Sasuke an accusing look, and like the Uchiha felt the stare he turned, knowing she was blaming his failure on her.

Naruto had understood early on there was some strange feud between the two, but over what he did not know.

Sasuke stopped his kicking to throw his hands into his pockets. He threw his infamous glare over his shoulder, "Weren't you caught before me Hyūga?" He spat her last name like rotten food.

Hinata blushed to her roots, only answering once her color returned to normal. "Once. All the other days I was caught last."

Sasuke grimaced, fully turning around to argue that, "We were caught at the same time…"

"Guys!" Naruto shouted, feeling tired and honestly annoyed to be excluded from their argument. He was always caught first, barely lasting a minute, two if he was lucky.

"What?" Sasuke snarled.

"He wants us to work together." Naruto may always be the one getting caught early but it was for that very same reason he knew that was what Kakashi-sensei wanted. That was why he was refusing to teach, he was certain.

The two prodigies were silent.

They weren't so dim witted that they needed him to reason. They would come to the conclusion themselves too, that was certain. It wouldn't take long.

Beside him, Hinata blinked.

She stood, biting her lip to think. He wondered what was going through her head. He has misread her at their first meeting. She had come across as cocky and condescending, but as time went by Naruto suspected she wasn't used to social interactions with those her age.

More often than not, he would say something that had her blushing, and while the girl was a little weird, she was also independent. He suspected that like him and Sasuke, she was used to having to do things on her own, and that was why the idea had never sprung to her mind.

Naruto looked at Sasuke expectedly but the latter only frowned. Sasuke's pride ran deep. One so embedded in him, that the thought to seek help would never cross his mind.

"Alright." Hinata said, a small smile on her face.

Naruto nodded, grateful she had listened.

Sasuke spat into the dirt, ignoring their gazes as he dug a small hole with his sandal.

"Fine," he grumbled.

…

The next morning Kakashi-sensei came around noon, going off the position of the sun. Naruto could never afford a watch and he only had a cheap clock in his apartment and the big hand constantly got stuck.

It had been one of the few lessons he actually paid attention to in the academy. Though now, he regretted not taking all the teachings seriously.

Kakashi appeared before them with his familiar nonchalance, the wind lightly caressing his silver hair.

The Genin were ready for him.

He noticed something different about them too, for that reason he skipped the formalities and went right into the hand signs. Buru appeared before them and they tensed.

"Go."

They ran, hard.

This time, when they burst into the forest he felt hopeful. It was the same situation, him lagging behind and Hinata and Sasuke ahead speeding away and dashing after the other, respectively. Almost everything was the same, he could hear Buru's panting and quickening steps and his chest still heaved as he ran harder than he thought he could.

Except this time, they had a plan, and Naruto smiled at the thought that a lot of it had been his idea.

Up ahead, Sasuke disheveled a kunai from his pouch and tossed it into the air.

The kunai broke the rope and several large logs began it's descent to the ground. Hinata was already through and Sasuke got through easily but Naruto, barely.

He smirked when he could no longer hear panting.

They had purposely ran this way because of the tightness between the trees. Buru would either have to make a detour, or run up the tree…but if he chose that path there was a surprise waiting for him.

Either way they had gained some time, little as it may be.

He thought about Sasuke's timing with cutting the rope and he was impressed. The Uchiha had to calculate just how long it would take Naruto to get through without letting Buru get in as well.

He looked up ahead to the symbol of Hinata's clan, watching her scurry farther and farther from view. Man, she was fast. Though he supposed for someone who didn't carry weapons to help aid her escape she needed to be.

" _You don't have anything?" Sasuke had said in a mix between disbelief and annoyance._

 _Naruto had suggested they put out all their weapons so they could plan with what they had._

 _Hinata blinked before throwing up her hands. "Hyuga do not carry weapons when we have our hands at our disposal." While the word choice sounded arrogant, Naruto couldn't help but notice that was not how the girl intended it to come across. He'd been given a brief history lesson on the Hyūga clan by Hinata. If he recalled her fond voice when speaking of her clan, he shouldn't be surprised to know the girl took the ways of a Hyuga quite seriously, and literally._

 _Despite this, he still couldn't stop himself from asking. "Not a single shuriken, Hinata?"_

" _If it pleases you I will take this." Hinata said, reaching into the pile and grabbing a lone kunai. She had a faint blush on her face._

 _She was so weird._

Naruto pushed deep inside of himself for that extra oomph to go faster. He felt his legs burn in resistance, but it worked none the less.

It was time for phase two.

He met up with Hinata.

"How long has it been?" He gasped out between puffs of air. They could only rest like this for a little while. Phase two belonged to Sasuke and it all depended on how long the Uchiha genius could keep Buru occupied.

"Ninety seconds." Hinata smiled, bouncing on the heels of her feet.

She was antsy, that much was obvious to Naruto. Probably because this next phase all rested on her and a jutsu she would use since she had no weapons.

Naruto fed off her amusement and allowed himself a smile, this was around the time he was usually caught.

In the distance they heard an eruption.

The two turned just in time to see flames in the air, before they began to die out. Good, they didn't want to burn down the forest.

Though what wasn't good was that was the sign. Sasuke was using his best jutsu. It had been established that when he used that he was running out of time.

"Hinata!" Naruto urged the girl to hurry, the urgency equally seen in his eyes just as much as it was in his voice.

His teammate raced through hand signs fast, something he would marvel at later.

" _Ninpo: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

Because of his closeness a cloud of smoke assaulted Naruto's vision. When he could finally open his eyes and they didn't burn he saw four Hinata's.

"Give me a sec," One said, slouching. She performed hand signs again, this time much slower, so that he could see the signs and notice the jutsu for what it was.

When she was done two of the Hinata's turned into Sasuke and Naruto. Hesitantly, he reached out to touch himself, and a wide smile formed when he was met with solid.

"Hey!"

Naruto brought his hand back at the voice, it was his but it just made him aware of the clone's posture that had a strange girlyness to it. The clone may have been disguised as himself but it was still an attachment of Hinata.

He finally took a look at his quiet teammate and grew fearful of her expression. She was deathly pale and visibly drained. Naruto caught her just as she began to collapse into herself.

Performing the jutsu was just as exhausting as she said it was.

"T-tired," she called out softly, her eyes fluttering to resist the urge to sleep.

"Not yet Hinata, we have to mask your scent. Besides, you said you had to stay awake for this to work." He carefully laid his teammate onto the ground and took off all her bandages. They went from her wrist to her shoulders and her ankles to her thighs. He took them off, and put them on her clone.

Quickly, he went about masking her scent with the mud they had collected during the night. Once she was covered head to toe he noticed her shut eyes. A glance back to the still present clones and a soft hand squeeze let him know she was still awake.

He frowned, hoping she could keep this active for the remaining time. He took off his orange jacket, throwing it onto his own clone and hauled her up, noticing she was very light. He carried her to the entrance of a tree trunk and hid her there. He tried to make the entrance not look so suspicious but he was pressed for time.

He covered himself with mud and a few seconds later Sasuke appeared winded.

Sasuke took in the clones, and his shoulders visibly eased. The boy took off the clothing on his arms and then his bandages and all but threw them at his clone.

Naruto frowned at his behavior but held his tongue because of the three he had done the least work.

After Sasuke was done applying mud the two took off in silence, intent on getting as far from Buru as possible.

…

"Hinata-chan! We did it!" Naruto shook the girl eagerly, a pleased smile on his face. His stomach bubbled with giddy because finally, they had won. It had only taken six days and working together but they finally defeated Kakashi-sensei's ninken.

She awoke slowly, but upon noticing his proximity Hinata shot up. Their foreheads bumped, and Naruto lurched back rubbing the spot.

"Hinata," she corrected softly, a dusty pink on her cheeks as she rubbed her own spot with a frown.

Naruto smiled despite her less than excited reaction.

Sure Buru probably went easy on them but none of that mattered because they had finally, won.

…

A month later Naruto sat between Sasuke and Hinata who argued back and forth like children.

It seemed to never be quiet. Someone within their small group was always in the mood to bicker and they usually jump started the rest. It always ended with all three in a fight.

"Sasuke, if your task was too difficult I could do it next time." Hinata volunteered, her voice sounding pleasant. Naruto winced, because while he knew that Hinata was genuinely trying to be helpful, he also knew the words would not go over well.

After the first time they beat Buru the bull dog had stopped going easy on them. They had spent a week of all of them being caught within the first minute, none of their plans working. At least they didn't have the punishment of staying the entire night anymore and their sensei still taught them.

It took a whole month for them to beat Buru together without him holding back. While they had graduated from Buru, they were given the next mutt in line of Kakashi-sensei's ninken. A significantly smaller dog named Bisuke.

He's nothing short of a menace.

The children never thought they would miss Buru but then again that was before they came across the quick witted and snappy tan dog that always had to make a comment about their skills.

The dog was fast, and they had to rely on Hinata to track his movements because he liked to travel underground. It put a wrench in all of their plans.

Naruto would take Buru back in a heartbeat, and that included his crushed shoulder blades.

"Well, he's kind of hard to see," Sasuke snapped back, out of breath.

Hinata smiled coyly, making Naruto take back his earlier thoughts. It was hard to distinguish when the Hyuga was socially unaware or simply trying to get a rise out of one of them. Now, it seemed to be the latter as the girl tapped her temple knowingly, "Really? I didn't notice, I see him fine."

Sasuke bared his teeth and set his sights on Naruto, "If he didn't get caught we would of still had a chance."

"Bastard," Naruto barked under his breath while still trying to take in air.

"Dead last," Sasuke shouted back and Naruto felt his shoulders tense.

He snarled, a tired arm reaching out blindly to grab the Uchiha's collar. Naruto didn't have to see Hinata to know her eyes were probably dancing with amusement.

Damn them both.

"Now settle down children," Kakashi called out in a teasing manner.

Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto sighed.

Hinata smiled.

"Naruto how comfortable do you feel with tree walking?" Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pockets awaiting a response.

"He can take like three steps," Sasuke muttered.

Hinata giggled.

Naruto felt his anger enflame his cheeks.

He had learned how to tree walk a week ago, but he was still shaky with it. Though, he refused to cower in front of Sasuke who had learned the exercise the same time as he did, but performed it with much more ease.

The three had already begun to talk about how much easier it would be to run from Bisuke once they could all tree walk and travel by tree instead of land and remain sitting ducks.

"Fine." Naruto forced himself to say, shooting Sasuke a look he hoped told the boy just how much he despised him.

"Good! Then I believe a game is in order."

Beside him his two teammates piped up.

Then there sensei lazily grabbed a bell attached to string from his belt. He launched it through the air and out of sight and a moment later he threw a kunai. The genin heard a faint clank sound and assumed the kunai to be stuck to a tree.

"That bell is now at the top of a tree. The person to retrieve it will be your leader." Kakashi pulled out his perverted orange book, they knew, due to Hinata's Byakugan.

Naruto jumped to his feet at that, looking at the tree that Kakashi-sensei pointed to. He gulped, that tree had to be the tallest in the forest. He was terrified, and yet he wanted to be the leader.

If he was going to be Hokage, he would need to start early.

Kakashi-sensei flipped a page.

"Begin."

They raced to the tree, jumbled limbs throwing themselves forward to get there first. Hinata was ahead, as usual. Naruto figured her Byakugan was activated because Sasuke was throwing kunai at her and she was dodging without any strain, with her back to him turned.

Naruto blinked when he saw Kakashi-sensei already at the base of the tree.

As Hinata jumped up the tree and began her climb she threw a smug look over her shoulder.

Naruto could hear a growl and moments later the forest caught fire.

Hinata laughed as she traveled higher and higher avoiding Sasuke's fireballs with skill. Naruto was on the tree now, making his way up, albeit slower compared to his teammates.

He was planning.

Maybe if he let the two duke it out he could find a way to get up there first. They were underestimating him and he could use it to his advantage.

When he reached midway, he slipped.

He took a kunai and jammed it into the tree and used that small frame of time to get his chakra control together.

…

Hinata took the words 'game' very seriously. On one hand, she didn't care for the title as leader of the group, but on the other she didn't trust that position in the hands of her two teammates. One, too selfish to care think of others, the other who often did not think enough. One would get her killed with his pride and the other killed in his drive to prove his worth to himself. In either of the two hands she would have to carry out reckless orders made emotionally.

Hinata on the other hand understood the weight a leader would have to carry on their shoulders. As someone whose been groomed to lead a clan all her life, she was so stranger to sacrifice and duty.

So, she knew that she would take the bell at some time, but, why not prolong the inevitable? She wanted to get some fun out of this exercise while she could.

Messing with Sasuke Uchiha was a good time, and as she climbed the tree then purposely slid down to Sasuke's level to toss playful jabs at him, because he couldn't concentrate well enough to simultaneously fight and keep his concentration, she smiled. She ran back up the tree knowing she could take the bell right then and there, but then it'd be over too soon and she found too much delight in mocking the last Uchiha.

Over her dead body would she lose, she could not afford to. She paused to take notice of where Naruto was, then focused back on her competition.

Once aware of their positons she planted herself upside down on a branch as she waited for Sasuke to catch up, and he did. He put himself directly on the branch, finding it easier to fight and distribute his chakra.

They engaged in a short close combat fight and Hinata smiled when her palm grazed Sasuke's mouth.

The Uchiha wobbled on the branch and glanced at her warily.

Her smiled widened.

She's been training how to fight on water for years. So, fighting on a tree? A breeze.

"Aaah." At the panicked sound the two looked down to see Naruto slowly make his way up and stumble.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked up. The bell wasn't in reach but he had a glint in his eyes.

Sasuke's kunai shot out of his arm and cut the string attached to the bell. Hinata shot off using Sasuke's head as leverage to push ahead. Aware of her tricks by now he grabbed her leg flinging her away.

Hinata grabbed a hold of the tree with her hands and glued herself back to the bark with little difficulty.

A startled shout reached their ears.

They both looked down to see Naruto lose his grip and fall.

Hinata paused, glancing at Sasuke to see what he would do.

The bell was falling, but so was Naruto.

The two continued to look at one another, neither of them reaching for the bell just yet that was almost within their grasps.

Hyuga did not accept failure. It wasn't that she didn't want to lose to him. She _couldn't_.

Hinata looked away first to glance at Kakashi-sensei, who caught her gaze.

"He wouldn't…" Hinata whispered confusedly. Her sensei shot her an amused eye smile then flipped a page, making her eyes widen in panic.

Was this some kind of test?!

The bell or Naruto?

"Sasuke!" She screeched in alarm as Naruto shouts became terrified screams.

She made her decision and began to sprint down the tree, her mind doing the mental math. This tree was about a hundred feet tall and the blond was over three quarters of the way up.

There was no way he would survive the fall.

Through the Byakugan she could see everything. Naruto falling, Kakashi ignoring what was happening, Sasuke jumping to the tree adjacent to theirs throwing kunai to stop Naruto's descent.

Eventually one caught his clothing then ripped, not slowing his fall in the slightest. Hinata's heart was in her throat as she stopped scaling the tree to allow herself to fall after him, arm reaching out to grab the blond.

She was getting closer and her legs ached as she poured chakra into them and burst from the tree knowing it still wouldn't be enough. Splinters flew from her chakra unbalance, scratching at her face and arms, but she remained unbothered as she ran after her teammate, fixed on his haunting blue eyes.

All she could think as she looked into his eyes was that he thought he was going to die. More splinters, and more kunai throws from Sasuke. They were panicking.

"SENSEI!"

She was surprised that the scream for help hadn't been her voice, but Sasuke's.

It sounded petrified and helpless, two words she never thought she would associate with the cocky Uchiha who seemingly didn't care for anyone.

It finally dawned on her that she wasn't going to make it in time as she got closer to the ground. Naruto closed his eyes in preparation, and she felt her eyes water, but she was adamant in blaming it on the wind.

She turned off her Byakugan but she couldn't stop herself from hearing the sickening thud.

…

Welp, that's all for now. Tune back in next month. Tell me what you guys think! Read, review, and favorite/follow please!

Oh, if you happen to have some free time then check out my other new story 'children of war' it's an oneshot now but I'm considering making it into a story if it gets enough attention.

Also, to help move along chapters I am interested in a beta. I've never had one before but if anyone is interested tell me! It could be for any of my stories.


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